To be honest, every day is Hispanic Heritage Day in large swaths of New York City. Those with eyes and ears are attuned to hearing the rapid-fire cadences of Dominican Spanish in Washington Heights, observe the Mexican tamale-and-horchata vendors out early on the streets of Mott Haven and spot the Puerto Rican flags proudly waving from street lamps in El Barrio, as if to mark their territory in exile.

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A family in Ridgewood.CreditMaridelis Morales Rosado for The New York Times

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A church group singing hymns in the Myrtle-Wyckoff Plaza in Bushwick, Brooklyn.CreditMaridelis Morales Rosado for The New York Times

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In the Soundview section of the Bronx, Ecuadorians gather to socialize and play volleyball and cards.CreditRoy Baizan for The New York Times

New York has always been a place of refuge for Latinos from the Caribbean, Central and South America. Historians say the first immigrant in the city was a Dominican merchant, Juan Rodriguez, who arrived in 1613. By the late 19th century, New York was where nationalists from Cuba and Puerto Rico plotted against their colonial master, Spain.

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A child in a traditional mariachi outfit at the Mexican Independence Day Parade on Madison Avenue, left. Attendees of the Brooklyn Puerto Rican Parade dance to a live band playing salsa, merengue and bachata on Graham Avenue and Broadway, also known as the Avenue of Puerto Rico, right. CreditMaridelis Morales Rosado for The New York Times

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A bus line in Bushwick.CreditMaridelis Morales Rosado for The New York Times

Yet there was also a time when nobody was Latino in New York. Until a few decades ago, to say you were Latino was to say you were Puerto Rican. It was that generation of migrants, who arrived in the 1950s, whose leaders struggled to transform New York into a Spanish-friendly town and fought for bilingual education, housing and voting rights that are now enjoyed by Dominicans, Mexicans, Ecuadoreans, Cubans and others.

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Chola Spears, a drag performer, and Chi, the Bodega Ball 2 creator, backstage of the event that hosts drag performers and punk bands from around New York City.CreditRoy Baizan for The New York Times

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Marta BeatChu, a Peruvian dancer from Los Angeles, performed as Selena at the “Look Queen: Battle of the Cities” event in Boxers NYC in Washington Heights. CreditMaridelis Morales Rosado for The New York Times

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Nachi Conde-Farley performing with his band JUNTA at the Bodega Ball 2 at the Brooklyn Bazaar in Greenpoint. CreditRoy Baizan for The New York Times

These days, the city’s population of Latinos — a term preferred by many over “Hispanic” because it embraces the group’s African, indigenous and European roots — includes everything from doctors and scholars to laborers and small business owners. And, as the most recent local elections showed, Latinas have taken the political world by storm, most notably Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Puerto Rican Democratic Socialist who toppled an influential incumbent in the Democratic Congressional primary.

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A man cleaning his car outside a garage in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The text on the tag reads "Boricua de Corazón" or "Puerto Rican in my heart."CreditMaridelis Morales Rosado for The New York Times

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A gathering on the anniversary of Hurricane Maria in Union Square on Sept. 20, 2018.CreditRoy Baizan for The New York Times

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An employee of Adriana’s Unisex Beauty Salon in Jackson Heights sitting by the door to greet customers.CreditMaridelis Morales Rosado for The New York Times

These photos, by Roy Baizan, a Mexican-American who grew up in the Bronx, and Maridelis Morales Rosado, who moved from Puerto Rico to New York four years ago, showcase the range of the Latino experience in New York.

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“T” outside a Puerto Rican bike group’s fixing and storage garage in Bedford-Stuyvesant, left. Regular visitors of the Caribbean Social Club mingle watching pool games in Williamsburg, right. CreditMaridelis Morales Rosado for The New York Times

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A quinceañera for Ashley Hernandez in the basement of a flower shop in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx.CreditRoy Baizan for The New York Times

From Bushwick to the South Bronx, both areas facing gentrification, it reminds us of the ever-changing notion of not just what it means to be Latino, but also what it means to be a New Yorker.